AMERICAN ENGLISH

         The variety of English spoken in the USA has received the name of American English. The term variant or variety ap­pears most appropriate for several reasons. American English can not be called a dialect although it is a regional variety, be­cause it has a literary normalized form called Standard Ame­rican, where as by definition that any dialect has no literary form. Neither is it a separate language, as some American au­thors realize because it has neither grammar nor vocabulary of its own. From the lexical point of view one shall have to deal only with a heterogeneous set of Americanisms.

         An Americanism may be defined as a word or a set expres­sion peculiar to the English language as spoken in the USA.

        The American English differs from the British English in pronunciation, some minor features of grammar, but chiefly in vocabulary.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why can not American English be called a dialect?

2. What is an Americanism?

3. In what way does the American English language differ from the British English?

VOCABULARY:

appropriate — подходящий, соответствующий

American English — американский вариант английско­го языка

regional variety — региональная разновидность

point of view — точка зрения

to deal (past dealt, p.p. dealt) with — иметь дело с чем-либо

heterogeneous — разнообразный

to differ from — отличаться от чего-либо

pronunciation — произношение

minor — незначительный

feature — черта

chiefly — главным образом